Majority of Albertans NOT using Winter Tires

[HuMz]

Originally posted by btimbit
I have winter tires on my truck. Love it.

Any other truck guys, how does an all weather A/T like Duratracs stack up against dedicated winters? I'd love to be able to run one set year round, but not at the cost of reduced performance

I run Duratracs year round and commute east of the city on secondary highways and even on pure black ice I have good control. If I had to stop due to a deer jumping out though I'd be screwed....although winters wouldn't help in that situation anyway. I believe Duratracs are actually classified as a winter tire on most sites and they have the severe snowflake rating.

The wife has general grabbers on her jeep and they are similar, we run dedicated winters on our civic and there's no question that we're both more comfortable with the trucks vs the civic in bad road conditions and both trucks perform much better with 4x4.

Like mentioned a good AT truck tire isn't even in the same ballpark as a all season tire. And from my experience with winters on our civic and my 2 previous cars, the stopping distance on pure ice is terrible on all vehicles unless your running studs.

[HuMz]

If I was working a little father up north on highways (such as driving the 63 or even around Edmonton) then I would definitely be buying studded winters for the truck.

[codetrap]

Originally posted by Cos
I will run studded next time then truly decide.

You can always ask Spikers to take his truck for a spin... he's running studded.

[avishal26]

I love how the trash talk on Facebook Beyond page is no different than this forum

[FixedGear]

"typical albertans. say something they don't like and all of a sudden they are experts on the field in question."

[cars5431]

Originally posted by codetrap
You can always ask Spikers to take his truck for a spin... he's running studded.

studded winters on a truck is one of the best things I did. I drove last year on all seasons just after buying my truck, drove for years with all seasons on other vehicles. Also drove with winters on multiple vehicles now. After all of this I will never not run winters in calgary. Too many calgarians like to panic stop and winters make a big difference even with proper following distance

[sabad66]

Doug McKay is a fucking idiot. how stubborn can people be?

[Sugarphreak]

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[r3ccOs]

Originally posted by Sugarphreak
My MT's are perfectly happy in the winter... does this look like an unhappy tire?

Sorry mate... when I was younger, I thought that mud tires would be invincible in the snow...

they are

but they're like driving a slick on ice, unless they are siped.

I would have to deflate the tire to about 27psi just to drive them out to waiprous...
in Waiprous they are unstoppable, but on the highway? Awful

manual or not, there is no way that you should have been driving the speed limit+ on 93' if AWD cars with Winters werre flying off it, driving prudently. Definately I would say you were driving your truck to its limit unless you were running so tire pressure so its close to runflat.

I ran BFG MTs for one season, and then afterwards, I sold em, and got me a set of siped Goodyear MT/R's which was decent, but not as decent as the studded duratrac's i'm running now.

Still Duratracs are still far from a studded winter (i.e. Hakkas)

btw-- i do like your truck

[Env-Consultant]

Originally posted by HuMz


I run Duratracs year round and commute east of the city on secondary highways and even on pure black ice I have good control. If I had to stop due to a deer jumping out though I'd be screwed....although winters wouldn't help in that situation anyway. I believe Duratracs are actually classified as a winter tire on most sites and they have the severe snowflake rating.

Agreed on this. I've been running Duratracs on my trucks for the last 4 years and have nothing but good things to say about them, summer or winter. Put on ~50,000+/year and have never once had a close call. Driving like a jackass on lease roads? Sure, a few out of control moments. But if you're not driving like a complete moron, chances are they'll work well.

On my last 2 cars though, 100% winter tires or it isn't moving once the snow flies. I've found they make a world of difference and encourage anyone that doesn't have them on their car to get them. Even then, like you said, pure ice and a need for a quick stop is no match for any rubber. I've had a few of those "holy shit" moments in Calgary when you hit glare ice due to melted water that collected on a slight decline/a random spot, which has now became ice due to 40 degree temperature change. It just wouldn't be a regular Canadian winter if you didn't come close to losing your life once or twice...

[frizzlefry]

Originally posted by Env-Consultant
Even then, like you said, pure ice and a need for a quick stop is no match for any rubber.

This is one of the few statements that I think validate the "driver skill" argument in terms of winters. This statement is correct. Winters WILL provide more traction on ice...but maybe not enough to stop you.

So, don't freak out and just slam the brake like some chick who totally couldn't even. The additional little bit of friction on sheet ice provided by winters may not be enough to stop in an emergency. But its enough to change direction. Less friction required to change the angle of movement for 6000 pounds than stopping it all together.

So if the argument is "I'm an awesome driver and besides on ice you can't stop anyways" you are not an awesome driver. Best technique is to avoid accidents entirely rather than white knuckle it and slam the brake. My winters have saved my ass on ice a couple times by providing the tiny amount of friction required to change my direction. Braking wasn't a factor.

[Env-Consultant]

Originally posted by frizzlefry


This is one of the few statements that I think validate the "driver skill" argument in terms of winters. This statement is correct. Winters WILL provide more traction on ice...but maybe not enough to stop you.

So, don't freak out and just slam the brake like some chick who totally couldn't even. The additional little bit of friction on sheet ice provided by winters may not be enough to stop in an emergency. But its enough to change direction. Less friction required to change the angle of movement for 6000 pounds than stopping it all together.

So if the argument is "I'm an awesome driver and besides on ice you can't stop anyways" you are not an awesome driver. Best technique is to avoid accidents entirely rather than white knuckle it and slam the brake. My winters have saved my ass on ice a couple times by providing the tiny amount of friction required to change my direction. Braking wasn't a factor.

Agreed. More control, more traction - with proper braking and acceleration, that is. However, at the end of the day, you have a pile of rubber under air pressure trying to stop a relatively enormous mass.

Funny you mention the braking aspect, when I hit glare ice on a steep decline last year (driving slow, heading into a 14 st intersection after watching a nephew's hockey game, zero indication that the city drainage was plugged allowing a thin layer of ice to accumulate after a glorious chinook, thin blanket of snow), I braked, let off, cranked right into the curb, bounced off, repeated, and stopped just short of the intersection - next bounce would've been the traffic light pole - better than vehciles side impacting at 60-80. Gotta love those winter tires!

[ianmcc]

Love the Beyond arrogance from both camps!

[r3ccOs]

Originally posted by ianmcc
Love the Beyond arrogance from both camps!

one side is ignorance and the other is arrogance

[Sugarphreak]

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[Maxt]

I think some vehicles need winter tires, some don't. Making it mandatory equipment is not necessary.
It's a waste of money on my service truck, its heavy enough it gets excellent traction because of its weight, winter tires also wouldn't last a month on it because of that. It's 2wd with all seasons and have yet to get it stuck on ice or in snow, or have any slippage on black ice. It drives like its on bare pavement, regardless of condition. I have tire chains for it to go into B.C.(which were a mandatory purchase), which I have never had to use, even towing in winter through B.C.
My Jeep srt8 is decent in average winter driving conditions, but the drive by wire is not linear and is also very aggressive. I am shopping for winters for it, the 4wd system had a code stored in the FDCM which locked out the front axle, driving it home the other Saturday was tense. Winter tire for backup wouldn't be a bad idea.
I know a guy winter driving a challenger SRT8, it needs winter tires.
Most mud tires are total waste of time in winter, most aren't big enough to air down to snow shoe across deep snow, like the Icelanders do with 40"+ tires sitting at 12 psi. If you dig through and the under layer is ice, you are screwed. A friend of mine looked like a total dork in a blazer with 39" mud tires stuck in a coop parking lot on a slight incline.
I've driven an Rx-7 rally car on rally winter's , Pirrelli's of some sorts, made the car feel like it was awd.
The Calgary Police run all seasons, it would kill their budget to do the change, and I don't know if you can get the speed rating in a winter in the sizing they need.

[16hypen3sp]

Originally posted by Maxt
The Calgary Police run all seasons, it would kill their budget to do the change, and I don't know if you can get the speed rating in a winter in the sizing they need.

Do you know if the RCMP run all seasons as well? I remember back in high school, I had a few friends who worked in tire shops and they were always doing tire changes on the RCMP cruisers. To what I don't know.

[Seth1968]

Majority of Alberta drivers not using winter tires

Someone might want to look into the definition of 'majority".

[HiTempguy1]

Originally posted by 16hypen3sp


Do you know if the RCMP run all seasons as well? I remember back in high school, I had a few friends who worked in tire shops and they were always doing tire changes on the RCMP cruisers. To what I don't know.

EPS up here run winters. Pretty sure the RCMP do as well.

[rage2]

I thought EPS decided to run those new all weather tires. CPS trialed winter tires a few years ago but I don't know where that ended up.